Durham police to use AI for custody decisions
System has an 89 per cent success rate in identifying suspects who are likely to offend

Police in Durham are preparing to use artificial intelligence (AI) to assist officers deciding whether or not to send a suspect into custody, reports the BBC.
A system has been developed to categorise suspects into "low, medium or high risk of offending". It has been developed using five years of criminal history data.
Sheena Urwin, head of criminal justice at Durham Constabulary, told the BBC: "I imagine in the next two to three months we'll probably make it a live tool to support officers' decision making".
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Police trialled the harm assessment risk tool (Hart) for a two-year period starting in 2013, says Alphr, during which researchers discovered it had a 98 per cent success rate in identifying low-risk subjects and an 89 per cent rate for high-risk subjects.
It's decisions are based on factors such as "seriousness of alleged crime and previous criminal history".
Hart "leans towards a cautious outlook", says Alphr, so it is more likely to label a suspect as medium or high-risk, reducing the danger of "releasing dangerous criminals".
Such technology is becoming a vital tool in helping police in their investigations.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Last month, a man was charged with murdering his wife after investigators were able to work out her final moments using her Fitbit health tracker.
Information on how many steps the victim had walked indicated she had been active for an hour after the time her husband said she died, says The Guardian.
It also suggested she had "traveled more than 1,200ft after arriving home", adds the paper, while her husband said she was murdered by intruders immediately after arriving.
-
October 13 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Monday's political cartoons include Donald Trump's consolation prize, government workers during shutdown, and more
-
Can Gaza momentum help end the war in Ukraine?
Today's Big Question Zelenskyy’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles hints at ‘warming relations’ between Ukraine and US
-
The Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners being released
The Explainer Triumphant Donald Trump addresses the Israeli parliament as families on both sides of the Gaza war reunite with their loved ones
-
Supersized: The no-limit AI data center build-out
Feature Tech firms are investing billions to build massive AI data centers across the U.S.
-
Digital addiction: the compulsion to stay online
In depth What it is and how to stop it
-
AI workslop is muddying the American workplace
The explainer Using AI may create more work for others
-
Prayer apps: is AI playing God?
Under The Radar New chatbots are aimed at creating a new generation of believers
-
Is the UK government getting too close to Big Tech?
Today’s Big Question US-UK tech pact, supported by Nvidia and OpenAI, is part of Silicon Valley drive to ‘lock in’ American AI with US allies
-
Google: A monopoly past its prime?
Feature Google’s antitrust case ends with a slap on the wrist as courts struggle to keep up with the tech industry’s rapid changes
-
Albania’s AI government minister: a portent of things to come?
In The Spotlight A bot called Diella has been tasked with tackling the country's notorious corruption problem
-
The tiny Caribbean island sitting on a digital 'goldmine'
Under The Radar Anguilla's country-code domain name is raking in millions from a surprise windfall